The present invention relates to a gas consumption measuring device and more particularly to a modular design for such a device.
Gas consumption measuring devices with a permanently installed flow meter usually consist of a reservoir, sealed gastight, an admission pipe, an exhaust pipe, and a flowmeter with an indicating device. A shut-off valve is included in the supply line leading to the measuring device, so that, gas supply to the device can be cut off using the shut-off valve, and if necessary. If desired, the supply line can be fitted with a pressure-control device in addition to the shut-off valve.
German Patent 803 492 discloses a secondary-counter device for measuring gas consumption, including a flowmeter combined with a shut-off valve to form a single unit.
Furthermore, a gas consumption meter is known from the German Printed Patent 16 98 463. In this example, a flowmeter is accommodated, along with a pressure-control device, in a mutual housing.
These two known devices have a common disadvantage. Each requires extensive installation work and associated expenses to install them into an existing gas installation. Thus, for example, to desire installing a flowmeter and a pressure-control device at an existing gas installation that only has a shut-off valve is not uncommon. To this end, either the installation is fitted with the two elements, each one by itself, or a combination configuration like that disclosed in the German Printed Patent 16 98 463 is used. A similar problem arises where an existing installation has a pressure-control device and installing a flowmeter having an associated shut-off valve is desired. In both instances, either the expenditure for assembly is relatively high, or special equipment combinations, which are usually costly, must be made available.